DP in The Dark Secret
by Aero Tendo
Summary: Danny is on the verge of being held back but gets a chance to make it so he doesn't have to by accepting an assignment where he has to write about his own family. It leads to a horrible family secret that he never knew about, what can a half boyhalf ghost
1. The Assignment

**Danny Phantom in The Dark Secret**

**Chapter 1: The Assignment**

Danny was in class looking out the window and he was not happy. Why would he be? It was Autumn and he was not doing so well in school. If he didn't get his grades pulled up then he wouldn't be able to move up a grade and that meant not being able to stay in the same classes as his two friends.

Mr. Lancer walks up unnoticed by Danny and says, "Ah Danny... staring at the wonders is a excellent thing to do but..." He leans forward and almost shouts in an angry voice, "But not in my class!"

Danny says, "I-I-I'm sorry Mr. Lancer!" as he tries to think up a valid excuse for not paying attention at that moment.

Mr. Lancer seems to calm down at the apology to Danny before he says, "Don't worry... I know it is getting close to the end of school and the mind will wander. I was once your age too. However, if you expect to move on, you will need some improvement in your grades so I am going to give you an option."

Mr. Lancer holds up a sheet of paper and waves it back and forth as he says, "Option 1: You sit there and do nothing, thereby getting held back a grade. Or Option 2: You take this extra credit assignment and put some real effort into it which will give you the grade you need to continue on with your friends.

Danny looks at his teacher as if he were about to toss him a lifeline but teasing him about before he did so. He says a little hesitantly, "Um... I will take Option 2."

Mr. Lancer says as he smiles a little in a knowing sort of way, "Very wise decision. Just get this turned in on time and just do the best you can." He lowers the paper down to the desk.

Danny says as he scoops up the assignment sheet, "Thank you Mr. Lancer! I'll do my best!" He pauses as he reads the title of the assignment.

Danny says, "I've got to do a family history project?"

Mr. Lancer nods and says, "Yes, and I want you to be as thorough as you can be. Think of it as a chance to perhaps discover something about your family that you never knew about."

Danny thinks, "I already know some things I'd rather not add... such as me being part-ghost." Somehow, he didn't think Mr. Lancer would understand that the reason for his shoddy grades were because he was always fighting ghosts who were out to cause trouble in Amintyville.

Danny gets up and after thanking Mr. Lancer one last time, he walks out of the room in a somewhat funk-state which was picked up by his two best friends in the world as they met up.

Sam says, "Hey Danny, what's wrong? Did Mr. Lancer give you some more bad news?"

Danny waves the sheet that was still in his hand as the three of walk to the lockers and says, "It is a mixed bag. Good news... Lancer is giving me a chance to boost my grade so I don't get held back a grade."

Sam says, "Then what's the bad news?"

Danny holds the paper in front of her, allowing her to take it as they stop in front of his locker. He says, "Bad news is that is a paper that has to be about my family and its history. You two know that there just some things about my family I'd rather not make light if you know what I mean."

Sam hands the paper back to Danny before he puts it into the backpack with all the other papers for his other classes as he prepares to go home.

Tucker says, "No big, just leave out the embarrassing secrets and the fact that you're really half-ghost and I think you'll be ok!"

The three of them walk out the front of the school and start to walk towards Danny's place as Sam says, "I don't know about that Tucker. Have you forgotten how much stuff that Danny's family does which could be considered totally embarrassing?"

Tucker nods and says, "I guess you're right Sam. After getting rid of all the stuff from just his immediate family, what's left could fit on just one sheet or two."

The trio reach Danny's home and Danny says, "I think you guys are being a little too hard on my family. It isn't like they are always doing things to embarrass me."

As soon as Danny opens the door he gets a blast in the face, which also covers Sam who was standing next to Danny from the Ecto-Foamer.

Sam says as she points at Danny, "You're right Danny. Nothing embarrassing about this."

Tucker laughs as he is still untouched and says, "And this is why I never enter first." He is still laughing when suddenly some ecto-foam hits him on the side of his head.

Danny's father shouts, "Sorry about that!"

_Theme Song Begins_

**(He's a Phantom)  
Yo Danny Fenton, he was just fourteen  
When his parents built a very strange machine  
Designed to view a world unseen  
(He's gonna catch 'em all cuz he's Danny Phantom)**

**When it didn't quite work his folks, they just quit  
But then Danny took a look inside of it  
There was a great big flash everything just changed  
His molecules got all rearranged!  
(Phantom, Phantom)**

**When he first woke up  
He realized he had snow white hair and glowing green eyes  
He could walk through walls, disappear, and fly!  
He was much more unique than the other guy!**

**It was then that he knew what he had to do  
He had to stop all the ghosts that were coming through  
He's here to fight for me and you!**

**(He's gonna catch 'em all cuz he's Danny Phantom)  
(He's gonna catch 'em all cuz he's Danny Phantom)  
Gonna catch them all cuz he's Danny Phantom.**

_Song ends_

**(Later)**

Danny, Sam, and Tucker were all upstairs in Danny's room after cleaning off the foam, which fortunately didn't have any effect on anything human so it didn't stain things or anything.

Danny says, "I'm serious guys, "I'm screwed if I can't put in enough stuff to satisfy Mr. Lancer!"

Tucker says as he puts his hat back on, "Take it easy Danny. Sam and I will help you."

Sam says, "Yeah, if you can't trust your best friends to help you figure this out, then who can you trust?"

Danny sighs and says, "I know you two are right. I am probably worried over nothing. It isn't like my family has a big secret that I don't know about and could possibly discover through this assignment."

Unknown to the trio, Danny's father was coming to serve them some sodas as a way to apologize when he heard the end of Danny's sentence. He hadn't been noticed yet and slowly backs away from the door as he thinks, "My god! Danny could discover the big secret we've been keeping from him!" He then runs away to tell his wife what he'd overheard.

* * *

**AN:** Well everyone, here is a new Danny Phantom story that I hope you will like. It will be sure to have its surprises, twists and turns before it reaches the end. This will hopefully also explain a curious thing that I've noticed on the show. Anyone care to guess what exactly the big secret is about Danny's family is? I will try to keep it a mix between seriousness and the usual DP show behaviour so if I start to drift too into either way I'd appreciate it if my readers let me know. :)

Chapter 2 will have more of the usual including the appearance of Danny's mother and Jazz coming home from school.


	2. Trouble

**Danny Phantom: The Dark Secret**

Chapter 2: Trouble

Mrs. Fenton says, "Oh, I'm sure you're worried over nothing. You probably just misunderstood what Danny meant." She takes the sodas from her husband who was still acting a bit nervous and he says, "But what if he finds out?"

She says, "Well then we'll cross that bridge when we get there. Until then we'll proceed just like we've always done but if he does find out then… we'll see how severe it is. We do have options, just don't forget that sweetie."

Danny's father nods and says, "You're right as usual. I guess I got overworked over nothing."

Mrs. Fenton smiles as she turns to go and says, "Don't worry, I'll go and find out for myself. I'm sure there is nothing to worry about, you'll see." In her thoughts she adds, "At least I certainly HOPE not… Oh, I don't want to have to do it again. Once was hard enough."

Mrs. Fenton walks up and says, "Hi honey, I brought you and your friends some sodas. Would any of you like them?"

Danny says, "Sure mom, that sounds great!" and takes one while his two friends also take a soda as well while thanking her.

Mrs. Fenton says, "So, do you have any homework for tonight?"

Danny freezes up for a moment and says, "Y-yeah, I do. Mr. Lancer gave me an assignment to write some dumb paper about our family. It is worth a lot of points so I don't really have any say in doing it."

Mrs. Fenton's mind was racing as she thinks, "I can see why he panicked but considering how lazy he can be sometimes, I doubt that he'll probe too much so the secret should be safe."

Tucker says, "Don't you worry, we're going to help Danny get a good grade on his paper."

Mrs. Fenton got a little nervous at that point because if those two probed too deeply they might discover the family secret. She smiles like she usually does and says in a chipper voice, "Good to know. Well, let me know when I can help. I know all about the family."

Danny nods as he says, "Um, will do Mom..." as he had planned on it since his father would just confuse him if he was asked about the family history.

Mrs. Fenton leaves after that but what the three kids don't see is her smile that she left with turn into a worrisome look upon her face once she was back into the hallway. She thinks, "I sure hope they don't find out..."

Meanwhile Jazz was just arriving herself after having picked up a book from the library on Ghost Empathy before she headed on home. She had planned on writing a paper on her developing feelings about ghosts which she had resisted for so long but after all the experiences that she had lately from finding out that Danny was a ghost to even doing some ghost busting, she began to notice that ghosts were just like people.

Jazz began to wonder if she was jealous or finally getting over it to be replaced with a connection to how the ghosts felt whenever they tried to haunt someplace other than the ghost zone her brother kept sending them too. She had noticed that they kept escaping which told her that there was more than one way to get out of the zone. She had wondered why they didn't just stay in there if they knew Danny was just going to send them back anyway. She had many questions and she hoped the book would help her answer a few of them.

Jazz sees her mother at the top of the stairs with a very worried look upon her face before she starts on up to go to her room where she could read the book in privacy without her parents(for the most part) barging in unannounced and bothering her. Still, there was something about that look that created a... feeling of terrible emptiness and void within her that all of a sudden that she could not explain. Just before the feeling threatened to overwhelm her mother spots her and smiles at her as she says, "Jazz! Welcome home dear! How was school today?"

Jazz is surprised at how quickly the feeling went away and says, "It was good, I learned a lot." as she wonders about just what had caused that unexplainable feeling within her.

Mrs. Fenton continues to smile as she says, "I'm glad honey! Well, I've got to get back to working on the latest ghost project with your father. So if you'll excuse me I've got to get going honey!" She couldn't explain it but she felt that she had to go talk to her husband quickly and get away from her kids for a little while she thought about what to do next.

Jazz suddenly remembers another book that she was carrying in her arms and says, "Ok, but afterwards I want to talk to you about Danny." She pulls out the book to show her the title which read, "Ghost Empathy: Do ghosts feel?"

She sees the surprised look before she says, "Oops, wrong book!" She then pulls out the right book and says, "Here it is…" She holds out a different book of similar color which read, "Parenting: The right way and the wrong way"

Mrs. Fenton thinks, "Not this topic again…" before she says, "That's nice honey but your father and I have something to talk about. I'll look at your book later."

Jazz is upset while her mother walks off in search of her father for some reason. She puts the book back in her pile before she goes upstairs to head towards her room. Once she is at the top of the stairs she glances down at Danny's room, which was at the end of the hall and sees that the door is open. She could hear that he was with his two best friends with whom he'd known since starting the school.

Jazz walks over to her room and puts down the books upon her desk before she thinks, "I think I'll stop by and say Hi to Danny."

She walks over to Danny's room and is about to enter the room when she hears Sam, the girl who she suspected had a crush on Danny say to Danny, "Don't worry Danny, I'm sure you'll be able to find out all that you need to about your family easily enough!"

Jazz stops for a second at the doorframe as she thinks, "What was that? Why do I feel this way?"

Before Jazz can explore that train of thought she gets noticed by Tucker who says, "Oh hey there Jazz, what's up?"

Jazz blinks out of her self-imposed daze and thinks, "Huh? What was I just doing a moment ago?" She says, "Hey guys, I could hear you were all in here and I was wondering what was up? Is it a ghost?"

Danny sighs and shakes his head before he says, "No… fighting a ghost would be easy compared to dealing with Mr. Lancer."

Jazz giggles softly and says, "Oh, another tough homework assignment for you? Maybe if you actually studied more you wouldn't find his classes so tough."

Sam says, "Hey, ease up on Danny! With all the ghosts lately, he just hasn't had the time to study."

Tucker says, "Yeah, not all of us are geniuses like you are."

Jazz says, "I'm not a genius, I study hard all the time to make the kind of grades that I do."

Danny says, "Well, you could help me sometime so I could have more time to deal with the ghosts."

Jazz says, "I'll help you any way I can with the ghosts Danny but I'm not sure what I can do to help you with your school work."

Danny grumbles for a few moments before he says, "You're right. Besides Mr. Lancer would be able to tell if I didn't do all this work myself and he'll surely hold me back a grade then!"

Jazz is stunned and says, "Hold… you back? I didn't realize that things were so bad for you Danny!"

Danny sighs softly and runs his hand through his hair for a moment before he says, "Yeah… I've been failing too much stuff so this is my last chance. Either I pass this assignment or I don't get to advance to the next grade with my friends."

Jazz says, "Don't you worry Danny! I'll help you pass your assignment!"

Danny is touched and says, "Thanks Jazz, I really appreciate it!"

Jazz says, "So, what is your assignment?"

Danny says, "Mr. Lancer wants to write a family history paper and I have to show that I honestly worked at it or there's a good chance that he'll still fail me and hold me back a grade!"

Jazz frowns and says, "That shouldn't be too hard, just talk to mom or go to the library downstairs and look up…whatever… you need." She gets a little spacey as she finishes her sentence, causing the trio to wonder what was suddenly going on with Jazz, as she was always a ball of hyper-energy on whatever she tackled.

Danny says, "Jazz, are you ok?" He looks at her with some gentle concern as he wasn't used to seeing his sister act so spacey.

Jazz takes a moment to snap out of it and says, "Huh? I'm ok… everything's ok. Now what were we talking about again? Oh, right… your homework. Well, just let me know if there's any way I can help ok?" She turns as she smiles and waves before walking out the door in a quick way.

Sam says, "I wonder what got into her?"

Tucker says, "Yeah, it isn't like your sister to go all mental at the mention of homework."

Danny nods as he agreed with Tucker, it was very strange for Jazz to act like that but then this wasn't the first time she had acted all spacey-like around him.

Danny could remember a time when Jazz was more like him and his friends, all care-free and fun to actually hang around with even if she was still a bit of a brainiac. Then one day Jazz came home crying and the next thing he knew, the two of them were off to different places for a year.

Danny never did find out what Jazz had come home crying about but that didn't matter as she became the uptight girl who thought of herself as an adult because of the way his parents were so lax in their upbringing.

Danny figured that she must have met someone at the school for girls that he went to who managed to convince her that her parents were lazy and not good parents. He had been annoyed at first where instead of being an older sister who he could talk to and tell everything to, she became almost a kind of second mom and one was enough.

Tucker says, "Hey Danny, does this mean that you won't have time to go to the festival this weekend?"

Danny says, "I don't know guys, I really got to get this done if I want to graduate to the next grade with you guys."

Sam says, "Well, how about we help you and then all of us can go together?"

Tucker smiles and says, "Yeah, what do you say Danny? Let us help!"

Danny thinks about it for a second or two before he looks at his two friends and says, "Well Mr. Lancer didn't say anything about not getting any help. We'll work hard before the festival and then we'll go!"

Sam claps her hands together and says, "Great! It's a date then! We're all going to the festival and we're going to have a good time!"

Sam realizes too late what she'd said while looking at Danny and the two stare at each other for a moment before she looks away, trying not to blush but failing as she says, "I mean, not a date-date, just a kind of set time and place… yeah, that's what I meant."

Danny is blushing and with neither able to look at the other, they didn't see the other blushing. He says, "Y-yeah, because we're all friends here and it… well, um… that is… we're just all going to the festival to have fun…yeah, that's it."

Tucker just looks back and forth at the two blushing teens before rolling his eyes and thinks, "Oh brother… they've got it bad for each other. I just wish they'd admit to their feelings already."

After a short while, both Danny and Sam were able to control their feelings and stop blushing in time to look at each other and see perfectly normal faces.

Danny says, "Ok Tucker, how about we get started on this project. The sooner we get this over, the sooner we can go to the festival!"

Tucker pulls out his pad and smiles as he says, "Ready when you are Danny!"

The three move over to Danny's computer and begin by calling up the web browser to search the Internet for all information about his family that they could use for the homework assignment.

* * *

**AN:** Well, I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter. I am sure that most of you have already begun to figure out what's going on here. So shhh! Don't spoil it for the rest of them! I look forward to any thoughts, ideas, reviews, suggestions and more from all of you! 


	3. Lightning

**Danny Phantom: The Dark Secret**

**_Chapter 3: Lightning_**

Danny yawns as he says, "I never…realized how _boring_ my family was without the ghost hunting bit."

Sam looks at him and says, "Oh, I wouldn't say that. After all we did learn a lot about your mother. She was the daughter of a four star army general whose grandfather was also in the navy."

Tucker says, "Yeah, just think about all the cool black-ops and stuff that your great-grandfather and grandfather probably did. No wonder you have such awesome ghost fighting skills. Your fighting skills are in your genes!"

Danny sighs as he leans back, "Yeah, and I use them for fighting ghosts. What I really could use right now is some of the brainy genes like my parents or my sister have."

Sam says, "Don't feel so bad Danny. Even your sister would be struggling if she was half as busy as you were with saving the town from ghosts."

Danny sits back up and says, "I guess you're right. Even my sister would need time to study and I have been lacking that lately. Ok, so what's next? My parents and then us."

Tucker says, "That's the spirit! We'll turn in a stellar paper and get you that 'A' needed to pass!"

Tucker was still researching the military history of Danny's mother when suddenly he hit, and very hard, a wall that nearly sent the computer crashing.

Fortunately Tucker was very skilled with computers and saved the computer in just the nick of time. He says, "That's strange… I was looking up the history of your grandfather and your mother when all of a sudden I hit a powerful firewall."

Danny moves quickly over to the computer and says, "What do you think it means Tucker?"

Tucker says, "Well if I didn't know any better, I'd say that there is something about your family that no one wants us to see."

Danny frowns as he says, "What could that be?" After a moment or two of thought he says, "Do you think you could hack it Tucker?"

Tucker says, "You forget who you're talking to, Danny. Technology is my expertise and I can tell that this all is years old. Whoever set it up didn't expect anyone to find it or have the skill to hack through something so old."

Danny says, "How old is it Tucker?"

Tucker types at the computer and says, "I'd say… four or five years. Give or take."

Danny gets a nagging feeling at the back of his skull, the kind that warned him that if he continued. Someone might get hurt but he had always pressed on anyway.

Sam says, "Are you sure about this Danny? Maybe there was a reason it was a secret?"

Danny says, "All the more reason for me to know Sam. What if it involves my mom?"

Sam looks at the screen and says, "I'm pretty sure that it does but my gut is telling me that this is something you don't wanna know."

Danny thinks about it for a long time before he finally says to Tucker, "Do it Tucker. I have got to know."

Tucker cracks his knuckles in a showy way and says, "Consider it done!"

Sam says, "I really hope you know what you're doing Danny."

Danny stares at the screen as he says, "So do I Sam…"

Meanwhile Jazz is sitting in her room, idly brushing her hair while staring at the mirror as if in a trance.

Jazz did not understand why she acted the way she did. There was something stopping her from helping Danny with his homework and normally she would have been more than happy to guide him or help him as long as he wasn't too annoying about it.

She wanted to see her brother pass into the next grade with his friends, she truly did. So what stopped her? It was if some thing was physically stopping her and making her spend her time doing anything else that distracted her from helping with Danny's homework. She couldn't even remember what the subject was anymore.

Jazz grabs at her hand and puts down the brush forcibly before she says to her reflection, "You know what this is don't you? Don't you?"

Mrs. Fenton walks in and says, "Is everything ok?"

Jazz turns to her mother and says angrily, "No! Everything is NOT all right! I think someone has hypnotized me against my will!"

Mrs. Fenton says, "Don't be silly my little brown pumpkin. You forget you ever thought that."

Jazz suddenly says, "What… what am I feeling so angry about?"

Mrs. Fenton says, "I am not sure, could Danny have done something again?"

Jazz blinks and knew that her brother was always doing something but for the life of her she couldn't think of anything. She shrugs as she says, "I guess so."

Mrs. Fenton walks out of the room while Jazz picks up a book titled "Ghosts, can they have spawns?" and begins to read it.

She walks past where Danny and his two friends are busy with the internet and thinks, "Looks like they're still doing homework. I'll leave them alone for now." She continues on to the kitchen and gets something to drink before heading on down to the basement where the ghost portal and other ghost-wrecking equipment was.

She walks over to check some equipment before she kneels and starts crying as she had hated to do that to her daughter but she couldn't let her remain angry like that!

Meanwhile Tucker steps back from the computer and says, "Tah-dah! I present to you full access to the file curtsey of yours truly!" He smile big with obvious satisfaction that he was able to break in so quickly.

Danny moves to sit in front of the computer and starts to look at the files that were firewalled and encrypted. Most of it didn't make any sense to him.

There were folders relating to stuff they did to secret agents to gather information without the conscious thought of the agent or the agency becoming aware of it. Some other folders talked about some great tragedy that happened around the folder's time of creation but so much of it was blacked out so that there were only vague references to what the tragedy even was.

All Danny could figure out was that the tragedy was related to his family somehow.

It wasn't until Danny made his way much deeper into the folders that he finally found a reference that was not blacked out like all the others were.

The folder held only a single, tiny file within it labeled "Reloc" and when the file came up, Danny could not believe his eyes!

His mother had given up to a military relocation program a baby! But why? And where did the baby come from?

It was only by scrolling to the end of the document, did they discover a tiny file link that was apparently supposed to be a picture of the baby.

Danny gasps out loud as he sees, both of his parents and a large window pane style shot of Jazz looking sad in one frame, looking happy as she held her hands over her belly, with in the third shot Jazz was holding a baby in a blanket in her arms and the final shot where Jazz looked normal but there was no baby in sight!

Tucker says, "What is it Danny? What is up with that picture?"

Sam reaches out and swats Tucker's hat off before she angrily says, "Don't be an idiot Tucker! It is obvious that Jazz was holding a baby, possibly **hers** and then his parents made it 'disappear' with no one. Especially Jazz remembering anything about the baby!"

Sam realizes what she just said and quickly adds, "I am so sorry Danny…"

Danny says with eerie calmness, "Don't worry Sam… Tucker… It isn't your fault. I was the one who told Tucker to break into this thing. I just can't believe my parents would do this to Jazz!"

Tucker turns to Danny and says, "Are you ok Danny?"

Danny shakes his head and says, "No Tucker, I am anything but ok! How could my parents do something like this? HOW?"

He turns towards the bedroom window and says, "Going Ghost!" as he changes into his Danny Phantom identity and flies out through the shut window with great speed.

Tucker looks at Sam as he says, "Do you think Danny will be back?"

Sam barely shrugs her shoulders as she continues to stare out the window at the rapidly disappearing form of Danny in the skies.

Tucker says, "What should we do Sam? Do we save this information? Should we tell someone?"

Sam turns sharply to Tucker and growls, "Save it all! It is evidence and besides there may be more in there that we haven't read that will tell us what happened to the baby."

Tucker nods and quickly sits down in front of the computer, saving every bit of data that was in there to the computer before he looks up at Sam and says, "Um… I know I probably shouldn't ask this but what about Jazz? Should we tell her?"

Sam glares at him as she says, "No, not until we have more useful information about what happened to her child. If you just learned you had a child and your memory erased, don't you think you'd want as much information as possible?"

Tucker nods as he says, "Yeah, I guess you're right Sam. What do we do in the meantime?"

Sam sighs and says, "I don't know. I guess we keep on digging and hope that Danny returns at some point."

Tucker nervously asks, "Do you really think that he might not return? I mean this is his home."

Sam puts her hands on her hips and says, "Would you want to return home to the same parents that did that to your sister and lied to the two of you for years?"

Tucker thinks hard for a long few moments before he says, "I guess not but I know I would have to. They would be the ones with all the answers to the questions that would be burning through my mind."

Sam looks back out the window as she softly says, "I imagine those questions are on Danny's mind too, Tucker."

Tucker had no reply to that, nothing further that he could add so he just sits there in the chair, slightly slumped as he is stumped about what to do next.

Sam was also quiet though she was silently angry that this was happening to Danny. She cared for him so much and to see Danny hurting like that, especially because it involved his own sister. She just knew that she had to do whatever she could to make him happy once more but for the moment, she was at a loss as what to do.

* * *

**AN:** Well I know it has been since forever that I have updated this chapter. I hope all of you have enjoyed it and realize now what the secret is. The question is what do you think should happen next?

As usual all reviews, votes, ideas, and suggestions are highly welcome. 


	4. Thoughts

**Danny Phantom: The Dark Secret**

**_Chapter 4: Thoughts_**

Danny just kept flying as fast as he could away from the house, away from the source of pain. It had been a powerful shock to learn that his parents had done such a terrible thing to the both of them for they had hidden it from him, kept him away from his sister the whole year that she was pregnant and only when they had done something to her mind did they consent to his coming back home.

He had thought Jazz was strange when he came home but he had quickly gotten used to the idea that it was just her hormones changing her and he never questioned it after that.

He had certainly found enough things to keep himself busy over the years but he couldn't help but feel that he had seriously let his sister down. He should have questioned his sister's abrupt change in behavior more when he had first noticed it but he had trusted his parents so much then. Not anymore.

Danny stops flying just outside the border of his town and turns back, looking back at it. He couldn't help but wonder if Jazz's son or daughter was somewhere out there. Could that kid have been one of the ones that he had saved from the many ghosts that he'd been fighting over the many years? It would be a cruel twist of irony if that was the case.

He wanted so badly to just fly off and never come back but he also knew one thing for certain that if he did that. He would always wonder what became of his family, his friends, and the lost child of Jazz.

As he continues to float there in the sky he wonders what his parents would say or what they would do if he went back right then and asked about Jazz and her child. Would Jazz herself have any answers?

The longer Danny floated in the sky, the more questions he had and the more frustrated he got.

Suddenly a computer hardware store glows a bright green and explodes from within all of the computers and other various things within came flying out of the explosion to start forming into the shape of a large man-like thing with colored wires hanging out from where the fingers and thumbs would be.

Danny frowns as he darkly says, "Technus, perfect! Now I can work off some of anger!" He fast and straight at Technus, arriving just in time for him to hear him start boasting, "At last! I, Technus have achieved the perfect and undefeatable form! So that not even that hero…"

Danny fires a powerful green blast from his hand, sending Technus down to the ground and into the already destroyed building.

Technus looks up from his position and shouts, "I should have known that was you! You always wreck my plans! No more! I have firewalls to protect me so I can't be hacked like before!"

Danny floats in the air, angrily saying, "Tonight was NOT a good night to show up Technus." To prove his point he powers up a powerful ball of green ghost energy in his hands and throws it at the chest area where Technus's face was.

Technus barely moves out of the way in time with half of his left arm exploding as it gets hit by the ball.

Technus steals more parts to regenerate the missing arm but he knew that Danny was not holding back on power like he normally would in one of their fights. He says, "What has crawled under your skin and made you so angry?"

Danny fires a series of powerful blasts from each of his hands, striking various parts of the walking hardware store and shouts, "I don't want to talk about it!"

Technus sees an opening and lashes out with the cable fingers, wrapping cables around Danny's arms and legs. He joyfully cries out, "Ah-ha! I have you now! You will now know the power of Technus as I…" He trails off as Danny uses his ice power to freeze the cables to the point where he can shatter the cords wrapped around him.

Technus complains loudly, "No fair! Those kind of cables do not come easily you know!" He swings his other hand at Danny to knock him out of the air and before he can connect Danny fires an ice blast that freezes up the joints and eventually covering him in solid ice.

Technus whines, "N-No fair! You used your ice powers on me!"

Danny punches his hand as he says, "I **told you** that I was in a bad mood and now you're going to find out why it is bad to ignore me."

Technus sees Danny taking a deep breath and says, "No! Not that!"

Danny did not listen as he lets out his most powerful attack, the ghostly wail. Waves of audio-powered ghost power that was far stronger than anything even Ember had done with her guitar without some sort of amplifiers.

Technus screams, "Noooooooooooo!" as the ice cracks rapidly and slides on the street from the sheer force behind the wail alone before the ice reaches that critical point where it and everything frozen shatters into tiny pieces no bigger than a microchip.

Sam and Tucker had seen the explosion from the window and ran towards it, knowing Danny would involve himself in it. They both arrived just in time to see Danny take down Technus and with the Fenton Thermos, Sam safely sucks in the shattered pieces of Technus before he could reform.

Tucker looks around at the mess and says, "Wow, you guys really made a big mess. Did he give you more trouble than usual Danny?"

Danny says, "No. The destruction was mostly because I was too angry to fight clearly."

Tucker takes another look around and sees that Technus's destruction didn't get much further than the store but Danny's damage was to windows, the street, and more. He then says, "Wow, they don't stand a chance against you when you're this angry."

Danny changes back to his human form and bitterly says, "Maybe not but even after kicking his butt I still don't feel any better."

Sam's heart reached out for Danny as she wanted to take him into her arms and just squeeze all the pain and suffering that he was enduring right out of him just to make him her usual happy Danny.

As much as Sam wanted to take all of Danny's pain out of him, she was also so very angry at Danny's parents for causing all of this to happen in the first place. So she says, "I know Danny and if there is anything I can do to help, you know all you need to do is just ask."

Danny isn't even looking at his two friends as he stands there with fists clenched as he says, "You can find out what happened to Jazz's baby." He then runs off towards his home.

Sam suddenly grabs Tucker by the front of the shirt and starts to walk in another direction as she says, "Come on Tucker, we have some work to do."

Tucker nearly stumbles over his feet as Sam drags him and says, "Do you think you that you could let go of me first?"

Sam angrily says, "When we get there."

Tucker says, "Uh… just where are we going Sam?"

Sam continues to drag him another block before she stops, letting go of him abruptly which causes Tucker to fall down.

Tucker gets up, dusting himself off as he says, "Look Sam, I know you really want to help Danny. He's my best friend too so you don't need to force me anywhere."

Sam has her face covered by her hair as she remains silent, standing in the same spot that she had been when she let go of Tucker.

Tucker is oblivious to this as he says, "If you'd just told me where we were going. I could have started walking under my own power you know. I have two feet just like you do."

He finally starts to notice something is wrong by her silence. He approaches her from behind and says cautiously, "Sam? Uh… is everything ok?" He reaches out with a hand and very gently puts a hand on her left shoulder as he says again, "Sam?"

Sam quickly raises her head and looks at Tucker with tears already beginning to stream down her cheeks, "Why Tucker? Tell me why crap like this has to happen to Danny? I thought his family was actually… you know… really cool but then this happens!"

Tucker knew that he had to do something. Both his best friends were feeling hurt and while he had no answers for Sam, he knew that he had to do his best to comfort her because she was his friend and it sucked to see a girl crying, especially Sam.

Tucker awkwardly says, "Uh… I don't know Sam. I really wish I had the answers for you. I know that you have a crush…"

Sam slaps away Tucker's hand and shouts, "It is more than a crush Tucker! I… I… I love him! That's why this is so hard for me."

Tucker looks at Sam with his mouth hanging open, he had suspected that Sam might be falling in love with Danny but to actually hear her say it. It was a little bit mind blowing, well probably a little more so than Jazz having a love-child he supposed but still.

Tucker says, "Hey, I am happy for you Sam. Really I am, but you really could stand to work on your timing you know."

Sam growls in frustration at him, seeing that he was missing the point and angrily thinks, "Boys!" She says, "Don't you think I already know that? I love Danny Fenton and it is tearing me up to see him hurting so much!"

Tucker says, "I know, I know! Don't you think it is hurting me as well to see Danny and you suffering? But who knows what really happened to Jazz to get her pregnant?"

Sam's eyes go wide as she suddenly realizes something that she should have seen much sooner! She shouts, "That's it! There IS one more person who knows the truth behind what really happened to Jazz!"

Tucker looks at Sam with confusion and says, "Huh? Who?"

Sam says, "It takes two to have a baby Tucker, so all we have to do is find out who the father is!"

Tucker says, "What? And just how are we supposed to do that? We just barely learned about Jazz having a baby! We don't know who the father is, what happened to the baby or anything else!"

Sam says, "I now that but now know where to get started in our search for clues."

Tucker didn't understand any of that and says, "We can? How?"

Sam says, "Come on, we're going to hire a private detective."

Tucker grabs Sam and says, "Wait, I don't have that kind of money!"

Sam smiles at Tucker and says, "But I do, or did you forget that I'm very rich?"

Tucker blinks twice and then smiles as he says, "Lead on our little millionaire."

Sam frowns at him and says, "Don't call me that."

Tucker quickly says, "Gotcha Sam."

Together the two of them run off down the street, heading towards the one spot in town that had the only private eye in town.

* * *

**AN:** Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter. What did you think of the anguish by Danny and his friends? Danny really let Technus have it didn't he? Do you think Sam, even with all her money can find answers to a years old puzzle?

As usual all reviews, votes, thoughts, ideas, suggestions, feelings, and comical acting scenes are welcome.


	5. Secrets

**Danny Phantom: The Dark Secret**

**_Chapter 5: Secrets_**

Even as Danny's best friends rush off to meet with the only one they could hire for investigating what happened to his sister, something else was happening at the same time at Danny's home.

Danny flies through his sister's bedroom as she sits in front of her mirror and says, "Jazz, we need to talk."

Jazz turns to Danny and cheerfully says, "Oh! Is it another ghost thing? What can I do to help?"

Danny shakes his head and says, "Um… no, this is about something else." He suddenly found it verrrrry awkward to talk to her. How was he supposed to ask her if she remembered having a baby?

Jazz says, "What do you mean? Is it about your homework again?"

Danny rubs the back of his neck with his left hand as he says, "Uh… it does but not quite in the way that you…" He suddenly stops as there is a knock at the door and he hears his father say, "Hey Jazz! Let me show you my latest ghost gear!"

Danny quickly phases through the wall and ends up back in his room just moments before their father bursts on in without waiting.

Danny transforms back into his human self and leans against the wall in relief.

He looks at his bed and says, "Aw man… what am I supposed to do? If she really doesn't have any memories or has been brainwashed then I could end up hurting her."

Danny looks at the pictures by his bed, one of which was a family group shot and he says, "I suppose I could ask my parents but what if they try to do what they did to Jazz to me? What if they discover my secret identity?"

Danny wonders where his friends are as he assumed that they'd be right behind him.

He didn't know what to do but he figured that Sam probably was on the ball. She was so smart; it was little wonder that he really liked her so much.

Meanwhile in Jazz's room it was anything but calm as her father showed her how nice it could foam up on anything and it was ghost-phasing proof! As well as really annoying to daughters who were also trapped in it.

Jazz screams, "Dad! Get me out of here! I can't move my arms!"

He says, "One second pumpkin, I just throw this switch here and…" the fragile switch breaks under his touch and instead of removing it, it was covering more of Jazz and everything else in the room as he tried in vain to shut it off!

It wasn't until Mrs. Fenton comes rushing in and blasting it with a ghost blaster that it finally stops.

He could tell that if he knew what was good for him, he would get out of the room before his wife could free her because Jazz was so red faced in her anger and he did not want to get hurt so he makes a lame excuse such as having ghost cookies in the oven and vanishes out the door.

Mrs. Fenton sighs and starts to work on freeing her fuming daughter as she says, "You know how your father is with the gadgets. You can't really blame him for what happened."

Jazz says, "But mom! He is always busting in with something he invented and I am not interested in slaying ghosts like you! I think of them as people with real feelings and dreams and hopes!"

Mrs. Fenton shakes her head as she says, "Jazz honey, you know ghosts don't have feelings. They just live to cause chaos."

Jazz immediately thinks of her brother with all his feelings and shouts, "You're wrong! I mean how can you even say that?" She then tones it down and says, "How do you even know? Have you ever even stopped to talk to a ghost? To ask them how they feel about your experiments?"

Mrs. Fenton laughs as she walks away, "Don't be silly. Why would I even think of talking to non-living ooze? You have the funniest ideas Jazz." A moment later she is gone and the door to her room closes with a soft click.

Once she was outside of the room however, Mrs. Fenton was anything but relaxed. She had to wonder why her daughter was always so emotional whenever the topic of ghosts 'feeling' was brought up. Especially as of late, was there something that was triggering it?

She walks back to the lab in the basement and wonders about it for a few more moments before dismissing it as another one of Jazz's normal hysterics.

Meanwhile back in Jazz's room, she was pacing the room as she wondered why it was so hard for her parents to ever accept that ghosts had feelings! Other ghost researchers believed it, so why not her parents? She knew that she had to break them of this stupidity before she could ever allow them to find out about Danny or they might very well think Danny was a monster and try to destroy him and there was no way she would lose another!

That last thought makes her pause for a second, "Another? Who did I lose before?" But with no answer forthcoming she resumed her pacing as she tries to come up with a plan but experience had shown her that planning wasn't in her skill set. It was usually Sam or Tucker who did that and since she was pretty sure they weren't around, she couldn't ask them and she didn't know their phone numbers. Sure, she could ask Danny but then he might get upset with her for trying to do what she had in mind anyway and ruin any chances of settling things.

**(Across town)**

Sam and Tucker walk up to the door of the only private eye in town and Tucker says, "Are we sure this is a good idea? I mean what if this blows up in our faces?"

Sam frowns at him as she softly growls before she says, "Listen Tucker, we both want to help Danny right? Then finding out what happened to her is the only way to do that."

Tucker nods as he says, "I guess you're right…"

Just then the door opens to the office and a woman says, "Are you two going to stand outside all day arguing loud enough for me to hear you or are you going to come in and tell us what you need?"

Sam and Tucker look at each other and then say in stereo, "Coming in!"

The woman steps back out of the way to let them into the office where they can see that it was more than just her, but a man as well. She gives them a warm smile which when framed by her blonde, curly hair gave them a relaxed feeling.

The man inside was sitting by his desk with red hair and some white in it to show that he was much older than the woman. He gets up with a warm, friendly smile as he says, "Welcome kids. So what can we do for you?"

Tucker says, "Well we were wondering if you can find people who have been missing… for like years?"

The man sits back down with his smile fading as he says, "Missing? Why come to us now if they've been gone for so long?"

Tucker gets nervous as he didn't know just how much to say.

The blond woman says, "If you're worried about what you reveal here, don't worry. We are totally discreet."

Tucker is still thinking what to say when Sam suddenly speaks up and says, "We just learned that our best friend's older sister had a daughter and that she was possibly brainwashed into forgetting the experience. We want to hire you to find out what happened to her baby and if you can, find out who the father was."

The blond woman looks at the two of them in surprise for a moment before she says, "Does your friend know?"

They both nod before Tucker says, "Yeah, and now he's really bummed about it because he's not sure why his parents did covered it up."

The blond woman looks over at the redhead guy and says, "What do you think Terry? Sounds like an interesting case to me."

Terry just sits there for a long moment in deep thought before he says, "If we're going to do this, I want you to give us all the information you have discovered. Don't hold back anything because that little bit of information could make or break the case. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

They both nod with Tucker nodding just a bit more quickly in his nervousness.

Terry picks up his hat from his desk and places it on his head, looking all the more like a TV detective as he says, "Congratulations, you've just hired Terry and Sarah Steele Investigations."

Sam says, "I thought you were the only one in town?"

Terry chuckles and nods before he says, "Well I was but I'm getting old for this kind of thing and my daughter here wants to take over the business so it made sense for her to have her name on the business cards as well." He looks over at his blond daughter with a smile full of pride as he says, "Don't let the blond hair fool you. She is a sharp one and can figure out stuff faster than her old man."

Sarah grins at her father and says, "I don't have your experience but thanks…"

Tucker says in confusion, "But she called you Terry? Not dad."

Terry chuckles and says, "Oh, that's just because she wants to be informal with potential clients. Some people might be worried that it will hurt the investigation to have a team of investigators, especially one in training so sometimes she had to pretend to be my secretary but as of this week she is an official partner so no more pretending."

Sam says, "Congratulations Sarah!"

Sarah beams as she says, "Thank you. So how about you tell us about your friend and everything you know so we can wrap this up as quickly as we can for you two?"

Tucker says, "Well it all started when our friend Danny was failing his class and given the assignment to do research about his family tree and present it to his teacher. We helped him on the computer but my internet worm that I wrote up to find any and all information about his family dug up information about the baby his sister Jazz had."

Sarah looks at Tucker with an impressed look as she says, "You must be very good with computers."

Tucker grins and proudly says, "Yep, I just love technology! If it is out there, I try to know about it."

Sam says, "Enough of that Tucker, we need to tell them the rest so they can get started."

Tucker quickly apologizes to Sam before she says to the two detectives, "What he didn't tell you is that the family you're going to investigate is the Fentons."

Both Terry and Sarah look at them in surprise, before Sarah says, "As in the most powerful and best ghost hunters in the world?"

Sam nods as she says, "That's the family. Still interested in the case?"

Sarah smiles and says, "Of course! Nothing better than looking into a family secret!"

Terry on the other hand remains quiet and tips his hat forward just a little. He thinks, "If you knew the secret I had, you wouldn't be eager I bet."

Sam says, "Jazz Fenton had a baby roughly about 5 years ago and they sent Danny away for a year so he wouldn't know about it and according to Danny, his sister seemed changed when he came back but at the time he was told a lie that only a boy would believe."

Terry just rolls his eyes and says, "Whatever your friend was told, I'm sure seemed perfectly natural for him to believe since he probably knew nothing about women and still trusted his parents. Am I right?"

Tucker and Sam look at each other before Tucker says, "I guess so…" with Sam adding, "Yeah, but not anymore."

Terry sighs and tactfully says, "I am sorry about your friend Danny's trust in his parents. That is something all parents work really hard not to wreck and from the sound of things, they botched up pretty badly."

Tucker says, "No kidding. I can understand them freaking out over Jazz having a baby but why do keep Danny in the dark?"

Terry says, "Perhaps they thought he was too young at the time really understand what was going on with Jazz."

Sam says, "I don't care. What they did to Danny was awful! They kept him away from his sister and then they never told him about it and worse yet they altered her mind to make her forget it ever happened! That is unforgivable!"

Terry softly sighs and says, "I guess you're right. So, is there anything else you can tell us? Like who they contacted to hide the baby, how they did it, anything?"

Tucker says, "That is what kinda we were hoping you could help us find out."

Sarah says, "Well if that is all that you have to give us, we will start with what you have given us and see where we can go from there."

Tucker says, "Wait, how good are you at figuring out military blackouts?"

Terry feels the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as he says, "Military? Why would you ask that?"

Tucker says, "Because the worm found it at some military database but all the files were blacked out or encrypted."

Sarah says, "Wow, you must have some really, _really_ good computer skills to hack into the military."

Tucker says, "Well it wasn't as hard as it might seem. The stuff was pretty old compared to the stuff they use now so it wasn't hard for my worm to find." He shuts up as soon as Sam elbows him.

Sam says, "I can understand if you want to drop the case now but I'll make it your worthwhile."

Terry says, "I don't know… our services can get pretty expensive. Are you sure you can afford us on an allowance?"

Sam frowns and says, "I am Samantha Manson, and I assure you I am rich enough to afford you even if you charge double and ask to pay for all expenses."

Sarah laughs and says, "To be able to do that you'd have to be…" She stops as she feels Terry's hand on her shoulder. She hadn't even noticed him getting up.

Terry says, "Fine, we'll take your case but no more holding back and I want to be updated on any more stuff you find out on your own."

Sarah says, "Dad! You can't expect them to really be able to pay…" He cuts her off and says, "Sarah, Samantha Manson is the daughter of one of the richest people in town. The money is inherited from the inventor of the deli toothpick cellophane-twirling device. So if she can afford us, I believe it."

Terry turns back to Sam and Tucker as he says, "Ok, give us your contact information and we'll get back to you as soon as we have any information."

Tucker and Sam both give them phone numbers and email addresses at which they can be easily contacted.

Tucker says as they walk down the street, "I sure hope that they can find something soon."

Sam looks in the direction of Danny's home and says, "Me too Tucker…"

* * *

**AN:** Well, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. It doesn't look good does it? Secrets, plots, and plans all around with the truth and more hidden ever so carefully. What else can happen in this story? Want to find out? Then read the next chapter for you won't want to miss what happens next!

As usual all reviews, votes, ideas, suggestions and more are welcome. 


	6. Revelations!

**Danny Phantom: The Dark Secret**

**_Chapter 6: Revelations_**

Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, otherwise known to the world as Jack and Maddie Fenton had a huge secret and at that moment, they were both more scared of it being revealed than any ghost they had ever encountered.

Danny had collapsed onto his bed and fallen asleep while waiting for his parents to finally go to bed so he could have a chance to talk to Jazz without being interrupted or overheard.

So it was morning when Danny finally woke up with his mother waking him up for breakfast. He went through the motions for that day, barely looking at his parents even as they went through their usual morning of talking about their day and all the stuff that they would be doing.

Eventually came the time that Danny would say his goodbyes to and walk out the door to meet up with his friends so he could talk to them. He didn't know what to do but he truly hoped that Sam or Tucker would have some ideas.

As Mrs. Fenton watched her son leave, she couldn't help but get an uneasy feeling in her stomach that soon her perfect little world would be changed. She makes up her mind and decides to go call up Danny's teacher and see if she can't get the assignment changed into something else that didn't threaten to reveal the family secret.

Danny meets up with his friends at their usual eating hangout and says, "Hey guys…" He didn't exactly have a lot of pep despite all the rest he had gotten.

Tucker knew that his friend was down and when he glances at Sam, he could tell that it was hurting her to see Danny like that. He says, "Hey cheer up Danny, we have some good news to tell you."

Danny raises his head, interested in any good news for the first time since discovering that he might have a relative lost to the world somewhere.

Tucker turns to Sam and says, "Tell him Sam, it was your idea after all."

Danny looks at Sam and she says, "We hired some people to find out what happened to your sister's baby. I figured that we can't just ask your parents and it would be almost impossible for us to find out on our own."

Danny says, "Who did you hire?"

Sam says, "We hired Terry and Sarah Steele Investigations. They were the only ones in town and don't worry. I am picking up the cost for it Danny. I know how much this is tearing you up, not knowing what happened to the baby."

Danny opens his mouth to say something, a denial but then he realized that his two best friends would instantly see through any false denials and so he closes his mouth and just nods. A few moments later he gently says, "Thanks guys, I don't know what I'd do without the both of you."

Tucker says, "Don't worry about it man, that's what best friends are for right? And don't you worry, we'll find that baby in no time."

At that moment Valerie walks by and overhears Tucker's baby part of the speech before she stops and says, "Huh Baby? What are you guys talking about?"

Danny, Sam, and Tucker all go silent as they had not planned on anyone overhearing them.

Tucker thinks fast and says, "Oh, uh… you were just hearing me talk about the latest piece of technology coming out. It is so sweet of a baby thang that I just can't wait to get my hands on it!"

Valerie hmms as she stares at him and then shrugs her shoulders before she says, "Whatever…" and walks off to go eat what she had ordered.

Danny says, "That was good quick thinking Tucker"

Sam smiles at Tucker and says, "Yeah, I'm actually kind of impressed."

Tucker smiles as he says, "Well, I just played to my strengths. I figured she wouldn't care if I was talking about technology which is my bag, not hers."

Sam looks around as she sees more people coming in and says, "Maybe we should get going before anyone else overhears us."

Danny looks around and says, "Good thinking Sam. Let's go."

The three of them walk out of the place and they head towards one of the more deserted hang outs that they used for privacy when suddenly Sam's cell phone rang. (Playing a midi version of the Danny Phantom song)

Sam whips out the phone quickly and says, "Sam Manson here, did you find something?" She listens closely, nodding every now and then as Danny and Tucker both impatiently wait to see what she's hearing.

Sam finally says, "Ok, we'll meet you there as soon as possible." She then snaps the phone shut, ending the call even as both Danny and Tucker say at the same time, "Well? What did you learn?"

Sam turns her head to the two of them as she puts away her cell phone and says, "There's been a break in the case."

Meanwhile across down, Jazz is walking along the sidewalk with her nose buried in yet another ghost book that was the opposite of what her parents had always tried to teach her and in another bag was a parenting guide book in which she hoped that would help her come up with a plan to have them accept Danny and his ghost half.

So Jazz didn't even notice at first as a large ghost wolf runs by her, pausing only to sniff at her hair for a moment and pant happily before a blast whooshes by, destroying the Bus Stop sign nearby.

The wolf takes off just as Jazz looks up in the direction of the sound of sniffing and sees nothing there. She then is about to return her attention back to the book when she hears someone shout, "Come back Wulf! You have broken my laws by escaping again!"

Jazz's eyes light up as she says, "You're that ghost that um…" She pauses and then walks up to Walker and says, "What's your name again?"

Walker's eyes glow and he says, "Get out of my way! I am after a fugitive!"

When Jazz doesn't immediately move out of his way he shouts to the guards with him, "Get after Wulf! Don't let him escape!"

Walker then says to Jazz, "Goodbye Miss!" and flies off around as quickly as he can but he doesn't get to far as he is suddenly blasted in the back by Jazz with the Fenton Peeler around her body.

Walker turns to Jazz and says loudly, "You are interfering with the law!"

Jazz doesn't say a word as she cranks up the Fenton Peeler to full power and blasts him full on!

Walker screams in the blast and when Jazz stops, there is a bit of smoke coming from his chest.

Jazz walks up to Walker and looks down at him as she says, "You will not harm anoth…" before she shakes her head and says, "What was I just saying?" She then looks down at Walker and sees that she is dressed in the Fenton Peeler and says, "Wha? How did this happen? Did I really just take down Walker?"

Jazz deactivates the Fenton Peeler and puts it away before she pulls out her cell phone and as soon as Danny picks up she quickly says, "Danny! Come quick! I just took down Walker!"

Danny's jaw drops in surprise and he says, "I'm coming Jazz! Stay right there!" He hangs up and says, "Jazz needs me, I've got to go!" He stops for a moment and says, "Do you have the thermos Sam?"

Sam instantly knew that whatever Jazz was involved in, it involved ghosts and pulls it out of her purse as she says, "Here you go Danny."

Danny takes the thermos and runs out of the detective's office and out of the building, transforming at the doorframe so he can fly fast as he can into the air.

Meanwhile Sam says, "Sorry for the interruption, why don't you tell us what you discovered? We'll tell Danny when he gets back."

Terry nods as he says, "Sure, since you are the paying client anyway."

Terry leans back in his chair with his hands coming to steeple his fingers as he says, "Given what you told us we did some digging of our own and discovered that the one who helped them cover it up was none other than Danny's grandfather, who was in the military and had access to the mind-altering stuff as well as the right connections to effectively place and hide almost all existence of the baby."

Tucker says, "That makes sense since it was at a military place that we found the information at."

Sam says, "Did you ever find any information about the baby or who the father was?"

Terry shakes his head and says, "Not yet but don't worry, Sarah is out right now trying to find the answer to both of those questions."

Tucker says, "How do you guys find all this stuff out anyway?"

Terry slowly grins before he chuckles and says, "You learn the tricks when you get into this business."

Tucker and Sam just give each other questioning looks before they turn their attention back to Terry.

Terry says, "Anyway, here is the information about who the grandfather was, who he contacted to hide the baby and the name for the mind-altering stuff that they used on Danny's sister, Jazz."

Terry hands Sam a large folder with papers sticking out of it and a few paperclips were attached to some of the papers to hold them together.

Sam opens up the folder and starts to read with Tucker leaning in to read as well.

Tucker says, "Whoa, I can't believe that his grandfather went so far as to do that. To his own granddaughter no less!"

Sam grows more and more angry the more she reads until she can't read any more and growls, "Is there a cure for Jazz? A way to undo this?"

Terry says, "If there is… I have not come across that information yet. I am sorry Miss Manson."

Tucker says to Sam, "Calm down, there has got to be a way to reverse it or override what's been done and we'll find it."

Terry sighs and says, "It has been years. It may be too late to return her back to the way she was. I loathe to ask this, but have you considered that it might be more merciful to allow her to stay as she is?"

Sam leaps up to her feet and shouts, "How can you possibly ask that? She deserves to know that she gave birth to a child!"

Terry sighs again as he had guessed this would be her reaction and says, "Look, I know that this is a terrible situation. What was done to that poor girl should never have happened in the first place but what I am asking you to consider it the kind of psychological effect that this will have on Jazz once you tell her about the baby."

Tucker looks at Terry with confusion and says, "What are you saying? That she shouldn't know?"

Terry says, "Look, I have investigated Jazz's history as part of this and she is for all accounts a fairly happy, if somewhat odd girl. You tell her about all this and there is a strong chance that you will take away any and all future happiness that she may have ever had in the life she leads now."

Sam says in a dark voice that would make any goth proud, "So you're saying we should forget about this? What about the baby? What if it has questions about his or her parents?"

Terry taps his fingers on his chair before leaning forward and says, "There may be a chance that the baby, now a young child may not have any questions. If they were this thorough in what they did with everything, then the baby probably has parents that closely resembles what it is growing up to be. They may have even left the baby with the father and shipped them both out of Amity Park altogether so that they'll never meet."

Sam shakes her head in a furious way and says, "No! I refuse to believe that things are better off the way they are right now. There is no way that Danny will ever be at peace now that he knows about this, always wondering what happened to the baby. Did it live? Is it happy? Is it well? Did he ever run into the baby and not know it? There are just too many questions and I will **not** see Danny self-destruct because of this!"

Terry says, "I know that you love him, it is written all of your face but you have to consider that knowing could just as much harm him as not knowing. Consider this… what if you find out that the baby didn't make it past the first year for some reason? What will you do? Will you still tell Jazz about her baby that is no more? How do you think Danny will react to the loss of the kid?"

Tucker says, "What if the baby grew up just fine and it is still out there? He could still get to know the kid, and so could Jazz!"

Terry looks at Tucker as he says, "Let's just say for the sake of argument that you find the baby, and it is alive and well. You even find out where it is living. What do you plan on doing? Showing up with Danny and Jazz at the home where the only parents it has known for all these years and demanding to see the kid? Then what? Let Jazz take him home with her?" He leans back in his chair as he says, "You're more likely to scare that kid as badly as any of the ghosts here in the city. Imagine how your friends will feel if the kid rejects his birth mother for the arms of the fake one he's known forever?"

Neither Sam nor Tucker had a comfortable answer for Terry's question.

* * *

**AN:** Well everyone, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If any of you have answers to Terry's questions, I would love to hear them! So what did you think of the brief Valerie appearance? Did you find it interesting when Wulf made an appearance? Or get worried/suspicious when Walker was taken down by a quiet Jazz? Oh, and what did you think of Sam's choice for a cell phone ring? (Not sure, but I think it was actually used like that in the show too.)

As usual, all reviews, votes, ideas, suggestions, thoughts and questions are welcome.


	7. Surprise!

**Danny Phantom: The Dark Secret**

**Chapter 7: Surprise!**

Danny manages to find his sister's location from the sky pretty easily as he knew her usual walking path (handy to know when avoiding one's sister) and plus the smoking damage from Walker and his goons was still visible as well.

He lands down and sees the unconscious Walker so he doesn't waste any time saying, "Jazz! Are you ok?"

Jazz nods as she says, "Yeah, I'm fine but I think you should get him with the thermos before he wakes up."

Danny nods and immediately sucks Walker up into the Fenton Thermos before he turns to Jazz and says again, "Are you sure you're ok Jazz?"

Jazz looks puzzled at Danny as she says, "Why do you keep asking that?"

Danny says, "Because of the tears…" He points at her face.

Jazz says, "My tears…?" Unaware of what he was talking about before she brings her right hand up to touch her cheek where she feels fresh tears upon her face.

Danny says, "You didn't know?"

Jazz shakes her head as she rubs more of the tears from her face before feeling them dry up. She couldn't even remember crying or for that matter what exactly happened after seeing Walker's goons leave.

Danny says, "Come on, talk to me Jazz… what's going on?"

Jazz says while in a daze, "I am fine, noth-nothing happened to me. I think."

Danny wasn't convinced but given the way Jazz looked, he didn't want to press her too much or she might start crying and he hated to see girls cry. He says to her, "C'mon let's get you home ok?"

Jazz nods, agreeing silently with Danny as home suddenly sounded like a very good place to be. She moves forward and reaches out to touch his hand and then at the last moment, her hand freezes and she pulls it back.

Danny looks at her with a puzzled, yet concerned look before he says, "Jazz?" Not getting a response he is about to try again when suddenly he hears, "Oh My Gosh! It is you! Danny Phantom!"

Danny turns quickly to see Paulina running towards them and in a second, he makes the decision to leave Jazz as he couldn't take her back home with Paulina as the witness.

Paulina runs up and says, "I knew it! I heard there was some ghost stuff going on and knew you would be there saving Amity from whatever it was!"

Danny puts on his hero's voice and says to Paulina, "Greetings citizen! I have just rescued this uh… other citizen who I do not know from…" He doesn't get a chance to finish as Paulina suddenly hugs him.

Paulina cries out, "My hero!" even as Danny thinks, "Why couldn't she ever hug my human side like this?"

Danny clears his throat and says heroically, "All in a day's work Miss! Now I must go and um… do other heroic stuff!" He then goes intangible and flies out of Paulina's grip much to both the sorrow of both Paulina and himself.

Danny flies up and away, pausing to look at Jazz who simply waves her hand at him and then starts to walk towards home. Taking that as a good sign that his sister was going to be ok, he flies off into the sky with Paulina crying out, "Come back Ghost Boy!!"

Danny sighs as he flies away with his thoughts drifting away from Paulina to Sam and Tucker to wonder if they were making any further headway on finding out what happened to his sister.

**(Meanwhile)**

Sam and Tucker are walking, wondering what to do next in their attempts to find the baby.

Tucker says to Sam, "What do you think are the odds that she will go crazy on us after finding the baby she never knew she had?"

Sam shrugs and then says, "I don't think she will go crazy. Mad, angry, furious, speechless maybe at her parents doing such a horrific thing to her. I mean what kind of parents mind-wipes the mother who is their only daughter and just gives away their grandchild?"

They round a corner and are surprised when female clone of Danny, otherwise known as Danielle or "Dani" as she liked to be called most of the time shows up bright and cheerful, "Sam! Tucker! Hey guys! It is great to see you!"

Danielle gives them both a quick hug before noticing their less-than-happy response and says, "Hey guys, what's wrong? I haven't seen either of you for some time and this is the thanks for visiting? Boy, some gratitude."

Tucker says, "It isn't you Dani, it is just that we have both had a lot on our minds lately."

Danielle looks them both over with a more careful gaze this time and says, "What is it?"

Tucker and Sam both hesitate, as both knew that this kind of news was not exactly something that Danny would want spread around. Heck, they wouldn't want it spread around at all if they were in his shoes either.

Tucker says, "I don't know Sam, this is really personal for Danny. I don't think he would appreciate us telling anyone, even her. What do you think?"

Sam hits Tucker in the arm as she sternly says, "Way to keep it quiet then Tucker!"

Danielle looks at them suspiciously as she says, "What's going on? What are you two keeping secret from me?"

Sam quickly says, "Nothing! We were just uh… dealing with something that doesn't concern you."

Danielle is stubborn as the real Danny and says, "C'mon… you two know you can trust me. I am family after all."

Sam and Tucker both hesitate as neither was sure just how much Danny would want even Danielle to know even if she was a younger clone of him, which essentially did make her family.

Tucker turns to whisper to Sam, "She has a point and this is a family matter…"

Danielle decides to find out what they are whispering about so she dives into Tucker just as Sam whispers back, "You can't be serious! Let her know that Danny searching for a missing niece or nephew?"

Danielle gasps in Tucker's body, making Sam realize something was wrong which was confirmed as she says, "Danny is searching for a missing relative? That means they're related to me too!"

Sam sighs loudly and says, "Will you get out of Tucker? I guess we have no choice now but to explain things."

Danielle flies out of Tucker and says, "Why were you keeping this from me? ME! I mean, I am practically Danny except… you know, in more younger, cuter, girl form."

Sam and Tucker both give each other a glance with the same thought going between them, "Is this a mistake?" even though they had been busted and there was no point in keeping it secret any further.

**(Later)**

Danielle just stares at Sam and Tucker in disbelief before finally manages to recover enough to say, "No… WAY! You're telling me, that our parents. I mean Danny's brainwashed his older sister when she got pregnant and sent him away so he wouldn't know? Why didn't they brainwash him too?"

Tucker says, "I don't know. Maybe he was too young for the process or something?"

Sam says, "Or maybe they sent him away before they had that option. Didn't the date on those files show up about a month or so after they sent him away?"

Tucker shrugs and says, "I don't remember but I guess since he was gone, they couldn't do whatever they did to her that to him."

Danielle says, "Do you suppose there were any side effects from using it on her?"

Sam remembers what Danny had described his sister to be like and then what she was like after he saw her again. She almost nods in answer as she thinks, "Yeah, there were side effects but I can't let her know that. She is already upset enough as it is." She shakes her head and says, "I don't know but she's been like that for a long time now. It might be irreversible by now."

Danielle says, "So how can I help? I want to find out more and return the baby…" Sam interrupts and says, "Who is probably a young child by now" She then continues to say, "back to Jazz! It is only right that she gets the kid back so she doesn't have to worry."

Tucker points at her as he says, "Um about that, she doesn't know. We were planning on telling her after we found out more about her child, like where it is and what happened to it."

Danielle frowns as she says, "Well why not just confront my… I mean, his parents? They should have all the answers right?"

Sam and Tucker both say, "Well…" before Tucker says, "Yeah they would but we don't think we can ask them."

Danielle shouts, "Why not??"

Sam shakes her head and says, "Because they went along with the deception for this long and if they learned that we were onto them, they might try to get rid of any kind of proof. Starting with any papers that might tell where Jazz's kid ended up."

Danielle puts her hands on her hips as she floats up into the air, "So what? We'll just stop them before they can destroy something like that." She pauses as a thought occurs to her, "Wait, what are you doing to find out if you aren't asking them directly?"

Tucker says, "Well we hired some detectives and already we're finding out a little. We just have to wait until they have had more time."

Danielle moans, "But I want to know NOW! The suspense is just killing me! I want to at least know if it is a boy or girl!"

Sam grabs Danielle and pulls her down to the ground as she sternly says, "Look, don't you think this is just as hard on Danny? You are his clone so you of all people should know just how hard this is!"

Danielle looks down and thought about Sam's words for a long bit before she looks up at Sam and says, "You're right but what can I do to help? He's got to be in anguish if he's even feeling half of what I am feeling."

Danielle's words struck a knife in Sam's heart as she had long suspected that Danny was in pain and doing his very best to hide it even from his best friends but to hear it from Danielle's own mouth. It was a confirmation of her very worse fears and hurt her to the core for she loved Danny so much.

Sam balls her hands into fists as she knew that she couldn't let this go on for much longer. She knew that the detectives were making steady progress but there were bound to be questions that only Danny's parents would know. Suddenly she gets an idea, something that she wouldn't have suggested to Danny but maybe Danielle would be more receptive.

Sam walks over to the side of Danielle and puts her arm over her shoulder as she says, "Are you serious about helping Danny and Jazz? I mean would you do anything?"

Danielle nods quickly as she says, "You know it! This is a family matter right? I have got to help him because he is my only real family you know."

Tucker says, "I have been wondering about that. You have been gone a long time. Where did you end up? You don't stay a ghost all the time do you?"

Danielle is about to answer when Sam interrupts a bit harshly, "None of that matters right now Tucker! She can tell us after we find out more about what happened to Jazz's baby."

Tucker scratches the back of his head as he says, "Yeah… I guess you're right. Sorry, I guess I let myself get distracted."

Sam says, "Apology accepted, now I have an idea on how we can find out more information and only a ghost with your talents can do it Danielle."

Danielle smiles confidently as she says, "I won't let you down! What do I have to do?"

Tucker looks at Sam with a curious expression as he wonders what her idea could possibly be even as Sam says, "Come on. Let's go to my place and I'll explain everything there."

The trio starts walking off even as Jazz reaches the home and she goes inside, pausing to pick up a book before heading off to her room. The title of the book was, "How to mentally raise a child to be ready for the world."

* * *

**AN:** Well everyone, I hope you enjoy this story. The plot thickens and you have to wonder just what is going on with Jazz. Do you think Jazz is ok or is something starting to crack? What do you think of Danielle's appearance? What do you think Sam's plan is? How could Danielle help find out with her powers alone? Are you interested in finding out?

As usual all reviews, votes, ideas, suggestions, hints, echo-blasts, and more are always welcome.


	8. Shocker!

**Danny Phantom: The Dark Secret** **Chapter 8: Shocker!**

Jazz puts aside the book after reading up to chapter 10, that was titled "What to do when you have separation pains" and lets out a sigh, "Why don't my parents ever want to listen to me about my ideas on how to raise Danny? Sometimes I just don't get them." She thinks about her words and then shakes her head, "Scratch that, I don't understand them at all."

Her thoughts are interrupted when there is a soft knocking at her door, which she call out, "Come in!" without even waiting to see who it was first.

The door opens to show her brother Danny as he slowly sticks his head in to look at her, "Hey Jazz, Do you have time to talk?"

Jazz brightens up a little bit until she sees the expression on his face, "Sure thing, come on in."

Danny shuts the door and sits on the foot of the bed. He looks down for a moment before he says, "Do you remember anything about why you were crying earlier?"

Jazz shakes her head, "No, that whole thing is a blank for me. The way I see it, I was possessed by whatever ghost you were fighting and forgot about whatever happened during it."

Danny just nods, "That's good, because I was worried that you'd been hurt or something. But there is another thing that I've been meaning to talk to you about but I just didn't know how to go about it."

Jazz tilts her head in confusion, "Is this about you and Sam? Are you two having trouble?"

Danny's head bounces up and he quickly answers, "No! This isn't about Sam! Why would you say a thing like that?"

Jazz just shrugs, "I don't know... I just been getting this vibe lately that she is really upset or hurting over something. So I guessed that it had to do with you since you two are best friends and all."

Danny shakes his head, "There's nothing wrong with Sam or Me!" He almost shouts before getting off the bed, "Oh forget it, I'll just talk to you later!" He starts walking from the bed towards the door when the door opens to reveal Sam and Tucker.

"Hey there, did you finish talking already Danny? Boy that was quick!" Tucker says as he pulls out his little computer from a pocket, "Because boy have we uncovered a lot more that we ever thought we would."

Danny tries to hush his friend even as Jazz says, "Oh! What did you uncover? I want to know!" As she thinks that it was about the usual ghost stuff that they were into.

Jazz hops off the bed to quickly approach them just as Tucker says, "Oh, we have more information about that baby you had. Isn't it great?"

Sam sees the shock on Jazz's face, combined with the wincing, "Good grief Tucker" and she knew instantly that Danny had not managed to tell Jazz like he was supposed to. She closes her eyes and groans as she slaps her own forehead hard enough to sting as she thinks, "This is just great!" Before she says aloud, "Great going Tucker! You just let the cat out of the bag before Danny could tell her!"

Jazz was frozen from the moment that she'd heard that she had a baby and tears start to flow down her cheeks while she tries to keep her voice under control, "Wh-What? Is this some kinda joke? Danny? Tell me he's kidding! Isn't he?"

Tucker cries out, "What? I thought you were going in to tell her Danny?"

Danny growls, "Shut up Tucker! I was going to but then she... and I..." He stops and turns to his sister, tilting his head forward and says with a sigh, "Yes, it is true."

Jazz just opens and closes her mouth wordlessly in shock as she hears her brother and his friends talk about this as if they'd known about something like this for some time. What they were saying just didn't make any sense, yet she totally believed it because the absurd usually was the truth when dealing with her brother and his friends.

Sam spots the parenting book in Jazz's room and suddenly slams her palm with a fist like a sledgehammer, "Suddenly it all makes sense! Your obsession with giving parenting advice to your parents! Somewhere in your subconscious you knew the truth and was trying to prove you would have been a good mother!"

Jazz turns quickly, looking at the book and brings her hands up to her face as she whispers to herself, "No... this can't be happening! This can't be rea..." She trails off as she feels her cheeks wet with tears. "Tears...?" Looking at her wet fingers, she wonders what is happening to her when she suddenly feels a pain in her heart and clutches, dropping to her knees.

Danny cries out, "Jazz! What's wrong?" Even as Danny's father was quickly running up the stairs, having heard the shouting.

Jazz holds one hand over her chest and one over her head, feeling like she is going mad as it felt like she was being split in half in heart and head! Groaning in such agony, like that she had never felt before in her life, or had she? She wasn't sure anymore! All she can do is weakly say, "Somebody help me... help my baby..." not even aware of what she was saying anymore but Danny heard right before his father steps up and takes one look at Jazz and bellows, "What's going on? Who hurt Jazz?"

Sam and Tucker turn to him and quickly say, "It wasn't us! She just fell to her knees!" With Tucker adding, "I guess the shock about a baby was too much for her!" Sam knew that Tucker was blabbing something that they shouldn't be talking about and shouts, "Shut up Tucker! They don't need to know about our family history project!" She hoped that was a good enough cover.

Mr. Fenton grabs Sam and Tucker, picking them both up and putting them over his shoulder as he quickly says, "This is a family matter! So don't call us, we'll call you!" He then puts them down onto their feet out on the porch and quickly shouts, "Goodbye!" as he slams the door in their faces!

It is a good few moments before Sam turns to Tucker and hits him in the arm, "Way to go Tucker!"

Tucker rubs his arm as he whines, "Sorry! I panicked!"

Sam sighs and turns away to start walking, "Yeah, I know. C'mon, let's get going. I doubt that they're going to just let in for a while and we need to plan."

Tucker walks alongside Sam as he says, "Plan? What kinda plan?"

Sam glances back at Danny's house, hoping that everything would be alright before she says, "In case things take a turn for the worse."

**(Few Days Later)**

Danny walks up to the school slowly, his head hanging even as Sam and Tucker spot him and come running up very quickly to their friend.

Tucker quickly says, "Danny! We've missed you! Where have you been?"

"We've been trying to get a hold of you ever since we were thrown out so rudely!" Sam says to Danny.

Danny lets out a slow, drawn out sigh before he says, "Yeah, sorry guys. My parents put the whole house into full lockdown. I couldn't even get on the computer and I had to help Jazz the whole weekend." He raises his head up to show his tired, red eyes, "I don't know what to do guys. Jazz is really messed up. Now that she knows, she won't stop crying and begging for her child." He starts to walk again towards the school, "I've had to spend all my time watching her while mom and dad disappeared off to somewhere. We've got to find Jazz's kid and soon guys, I don't know how much more of this I can take."

Sam and Tucker glance at each other before Sam gives the nod to Tucker.

Tucker nervously says, "About that... when we couldn't get ahold of you, we kind of took things into overdrive with a little help."

Danny looks at her with some confusion, "Help? What help?"

Tucker just blurts out, "We used Danielle to help us find out by having her possess a high ranking military guy who was able to get the files we needed that had the information without the black outs!" He then quickly takes a couple of deep breaths before he says, "Whew, that is a load off my chest."

Danny just looks at them for a few moments as he took this in before he shouts, "What? Danni knows now too? Wait, wait, who did she possess and what information did you find exactly?"

Sam grabs Danny as his outburst had created some attention and pulls him off to one side, where they could talk more privately. "We would have told you about the idea sooner but with the lockdown... well, we sort of had to take things into our own hands Danny before your parents could do anything."

Danny remembers walking in through his house to get some water for Jazz and coming upon his parents as they were finishing up a phone conversation. He couldn't remember what it was that they said exactly but they had stonewalled him through every question that he had asked them that had to deal with Jazz.

Danny sighs for a moment, "Sorry guys, I just... well, this has been really hard on me, you know?"

Sam let her sadness show on her face even as Danny looked down at the ground, having had her own share of sleep lost over how things might be affecting Danny. "Yeah, we know."

"Yeah, same here buddy. We're your best friends. If anyone knows how you're feeling, it'd be us!" Tucker chimes in as he slaps Danny on the back in a comforting way.

Danny takes a deep breath and the closes his eyes to collect himself before he says, "Alright, give it to me straight. What did you guys find out?"

Just then, the school bell rang, signaling for everyone to get to class.

Sam didn't want Danny to react like how she thought he would, so she sighs and says, "Let's talk about this after school. We can't do anything more until we're out anyway, right Tucker?"

Tucker takes a moment to realize she was talking to him, "Huh? Oh yeah! She's right Danny!"

Danny looks at his two friends and hated the fact that they were keeping something from him but he trusted them with his life and knew that they would tell him after school anyway, so he nods to them, "Alright, after school it is."

They walk into the school but not one of them was focused on school or they would have remembered what homework assignments they still had to turn in.

* * *

**AN:** Well everyone, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. It has been a while in coming. What do you think of the way Jazz found out? What do you think will happen next with Jazz? What do you think Danielle found out? What more is there to uncover? Any suggestions?

As always all thoughts, reviews, ideas, suggestions, villains for the story, and more are always welcome.


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